Go to Church
Yes, Atheists, I'm talking to you
Ross Douthat wrote a great piece in The Times this past week about where agnostics are supposed to go on Sunday. It was largely focused on people who stopped going to church because of disbelief and miss the community. But what about the people who’ve never been to church and don’t know what it’s like. This is for them.
Why Church?
I’ll outline a few specifics below, but, as this is a piece that is going to ignore faith, the basic secular answer is community. Nothing in the secular world seems to be able to replace the community aspect of church. Church brings people of all different socioeconomic, political, and cultural backgrounds together and says, “Get over your differences and care for each other.” Let me get into some details.
Values
Look, say what you will about the teachings of different churches, I think we can all agree that, by and large, churchgoing people are committed to trying to be better people. Every week there are sermons on values, great people to look up to, and constant opportunities to serve. Obviously, anyone can read a self-help book or scripture on their own and find places where they’re lacking. But sometimes it’s really helpful to see the example of others and to be reminded of blind spots you have that you don’t notice through the words of others. And if you have children, where else are you going to send them to learn values outside of the home? Certainly not the public school system.
Service
I kind of mentioned this earlier, but if you’re looking for opportunities to serve, churches are constantly doing service. I’m not sure where to look for statistics on this, but from my own experience through my own church I’ve helped raise money for Ukraine, pack meals bound for hungry children, donated blood, cleaned public spaces, and had opportunities to help with disaster relief. Not to mention the service projects I did as part of a church organized scout troop.
Care
As an extension of the service projects you do, as part of a church community, you care for those around you and are cared for. My brother- and sister-in-law just had a baby and during Sunday school, a signup sheet was passed around to provide meals. When a friend of mine had a major surgery performed in college, our congregation consisting of only college students organized rides to and from the hospital as well as women to be there around the clock to help her change her bandages and make sure she was taking her meds and eating. In my church, we are also assigned families to look out for and ensure that they’re okay, but I’m not sure how pervasive that is among other churches.
There’s another aspect of care though, that isn’t as obvious. As far as I know, every well-organized church community also has some sort of Pastor. In my church they’re known as Bishops, but, regardless of the name, they all serve the same purpose: to care for their congregation. Obviously, this includes spiritual care, but it also includes emotional, physical, and social needs. Again, speaking from my own experience, LDS bishops are acutely aware of the needs of every member. From Joey who’s losing their faith to Meghan who’s sick and Jessica who feels unloved. There are obviously horror stories of Pastors and Priests and Bishops who abuse their position or are creepy, etc. But by and large these people are just trying to care for their congregants.
Community
I’ve already rung this bell, but I just don’t know of any other place where people from all over the political spectrum and every socio-economic level aren’t just in the same space but interact and love each other. My current congregation, in Northern Virginia, contains probably every tax bracket, widows, Republicans, Democrats, babies, teenagers, special needs. I mean everything. And I get to do my best to try and care for these people. It’s just like nothing else on the planet.
But What if I Don’t Believe?
Look, I said I’d ignore faith in this piece, and so I’ll just say that if you do believe in a certain faith, but not all of it you have two options: faith or compartmentalization. If you don’t believe in anything, you basically have the choice of compartmentalization. Find a congregation whose values you agree with and just ignore the doctrine. Don’t believe Jesus rose from the dead? That’s cool, why has that myth persisted? You don’t have to believe in the divinity of Jesus to follow his teachings. Nobody believes in the divinity of Marie Kondo, but many people have adapted her methods. Don’t like what Paul taught about women? Cool, what about what he taught about love and sin and humility? Don’t believe the Buddha actually achieved Nirvana? Great, what did he teach that you’d like to apply to your life?
Lastly, since almost all of you know me personally. I’d like to offer my help. If you don’t currently have a congregation and have any desire to find one, let me go with you. And no, I’m not talking about going to my church, I’m saying let me go with you to explore congregations until you find one you like. I believe so strongly in the institution of the Church generally and would love for all of you to find a community you can invest in.
I’d also love to baptize you if you’re not LDS, but that’s not the point of this. Just cards on the table.
